Pacific Design Center/César Pelli
NCAIA Dinner Invitation
  Publication Design Building and Theories by César Pelli, Architect, was the subject of his presentation for the 1976 Annual Dinner of Northern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, upon the completion of his Pacific Design Center.

 
Pacific Design Center
 
"I plan to talk about my work, what I have learned from it, and how this has led me to develop approaches and theories that were later incorporated in other projects, that is, the process of doing, learning by doing and sharing with others what I have learned." said César Pelli in the invitation.

The Pacific Design Center, or PDC, is a 1,200,000 square feet multi-use facility for the design community located in West Hollywood, California. The original building is often described as the Blue Whale because of its outsize nature relative to surrounding buildings and its brilliant blue glass cladding.

About the creation of the invitation, David Curry, design director said "At the time I was commissioned to create the invitation, I was barely out of Antioch College West. I wanted to convery the essence of the architecture of the Blue Whale set in a filmic graphic style that conveyed a sense of it's cultural surroundings in West Hollywood."

Mr. Pelli was born in Argentina, received his architectural education in this country and started his career with Eero Saarinen. At the time, he was partner in charge of design with Gruen Associates, Los Angeles.

Assuming the post of Dean of the School of Architecture at Yale University, in January 1977, Pelli served until 1984. His current firm, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects employs about 80 architects, designers, and support staff in New Haven, Connecticut.

Cesar Pelli